Basket



Jan. 31, 1933. A. H. SQHMIDTKE 19895586 I BASKET Original Filed March 25. 1926 rg. 8 6. 7 7 NN n Yif Patented Jan. j 31, 1933 UNITED `STATES PATENT OFFICE ALBERT H. SCHMIDTKE, OF ST. JOSEPH, 'MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR T0. ST. JOSEPH IRON WORKS, OF ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN BASKET Original application med March 25, 1926, Serial No. 97,220. Divided and this application led February h 20, 1928. Serial No. 255,712. v

application being a division of my application Serial No. 97,220, led March25,`1926.

It has been the practice for many years toV make what are known as round stave baskets, using la mat such as I employ in my present invention, with the ends turned up and secured to hoops to form the annular wall of the basket. Such baskets however have a lrounded bend of somewhat large radius where the side wall joins the bottom, and on account of this rounded bend and the thinness of the panels which it is necessary to use, there is a tendency of the basket to yield or crush under pressure, and this frequently permits the contents ofthe basket to be damaged, particularly in shipping and storage when the baskets are stacked one upon another. In order vto avoid this objection to baskets of the round stave typerabove referred to, I bend the panels of the mat sharply at the juncture of the annular wall with the bottom so as to eliminate the undesirable rounded bend and thus provide a rigid, straight sided annular wall which effectively resists yielding or crushing strains and protects the contents of the basket, and I also arch'the bottom and reinforce the lower end of the basket around the edge of the bottom so as to hold the basket bottom in the arched form and protect the corner or bend between the annular wall and the bottom.

The principal objects of my invention are to provide a light weight basket which is strong and ri id; to' avoid yielding or crushing of the bas et under pressure; to eliminate the' rounded bend at the vbottom which has been present in baskets of the character heretofore formed from a mat similar to that used in the manufacture of mypresent basket; to

form the bottom and annular `walls from a mat which is bent abruptly at the juncture of the annular side wall andthe bottom; to provide the basket with a straight sided annular wall; to form the annular wall with an abrupt bend'around the lower edge affording inturned portions which are connected with or form a part of the basket bottom; to construct a straight sided basket with an integral bottom which is formed so as to elevate the contents of the basket above the supbaskct and thereby afford strength and rigidity: to maintain the arched form of the basket bottom by a confining band; to utilize the band to protect the lower edge of the basket; and in general to provide an improved light weight and substantial basket which is inexpensive and may be made from substantially the same materials vas were'employed in the round stave baskets.

On the drawing:

Fig. l is a side View of a basket made in accordance with my invention, portions thereof being broken away to disclose details of the construction; 1

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail section of the lower corner of the basket; and j Fig. 3 is a plan View of the mat which may be'used for making the basket.

Referring to the drawing, the reference numeral 1 indicates the side wall of the basket which is preferably somewhat tapered vor frusto-conical as shown, and 2 is the basket bottom which is preferably concave or arched as shown. The side wall and bottom are in tegral,beingcomposed of long staves or panels having the end portions 3 which form the side wall l bent as shown at 4 at an'abrupt angle to the intermediate portions 5 which form the basket bottom 2, and the said intermediate portions are arched as shown in Fig. l to ailord a raised bottom and strengthen the same.

For holding-the staves or panels in the basket form',.a number of hoops are secured to the side wall, inner and outer hoops 6 and 7 respectively being preferably employed at the upper end with the ends of the staves sestaples 12 around the lower end of the an- 100 porting surface; to arch the bottom of the nular wall and preferablylextends slightlyrv below the'bend 4 as shown particularly in Fig. 2 to protect the bend. This band or hoop 11 fits snugly around the lower end 5 of the basket so as to hold the basket bottom in the arched form, this being conveniently accomplished by pushing the bottom inwardly and applying the bottom hoop tightly therearound while the bottom is held in the arched or concave form.

In practice, the staves or panels are preferably assembled in the form of a mat as shown in Fig. 3, and secured in this assembled form by nails or staples 13. The outer end portions 3 are then bent along the line 14 at anl abrupt angle to the center portions 5 so as to form the side wall of the basket, after which the hoops are secured to the staves or panels. rIhe shaping of the mat and applying of the hoops may be accomplished in any convenient manner as for example by using a machine such as shown in my application Serial No. 97,220, tiled March 25, 1926, and the staves may be scored along the line of bend 14 if desired, although I find that with a machine such as shown in my aforesaid application the staves or panels may be bent abruptly and satisfactorily without any preliminary scoring or marking along the line of bend.

From the foregoing it will be observed that while the basket employs a mat of the same character and uses substantially the same materials as commonly used in the ordinary round stave basket, nevertheless in view of the straight side construction, the arched bottom, and the protection of the bend by the bottom hoop, a much stronger and more satisfactory basket is obtained and the contents effectively protected against damage.

While I have shown and described my invention in a preferred form, I am aware that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the principles of my invention, the scope of which is to be determined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A container formed out of a plurality of veneer strips each comprising a bottom member and a pair of staves, the staves being bent up at angles relative to the bottom inember, said bottom members crossing each other diametrically of the bottom of the basket and being bowed inwardly of the container and a hoop outside of and at the lower end of the staves to maintain the bowed condition of the bottom members said hoop being attached to the staves above their bends and extending below the staves to take the weight and wear olf of the bends and deliver it' to the staves above.

2. A container formed out of a plurality of veneer -strips each comprising a bottom member and an integral pair of staves, each stave bein-g bent up angularly to the bottom hoop.

ALBERT H. SCHMIDTKE. 

